Credit: AP

Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug (47) and right wing David Pastrnak, (88) of the Czech Republic, celebrate with goaltender Tuukka Rask, of Finland, after the Bruins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 17, 2018, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

TAMPA — These Boston Bruins are an impressive outfit, in any number of ways.

You want to play a wide-open, run-and-gun style? They’ve got the skill to match you. Grind it out in a 2-1 game? They possess the defensive chops to do that, too. And withstanding multiple injuries to key players? Forget about it.

With a dozen games to go in their regular season, the Bruins’ 98 points leave them four shy of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the best record in the Eastern Conference and first place in the Atlantic Division after notching a 3-0 win Saturday in Tampa. The B’s are six points in arrears of the Nashville Predators in the Presidents Trophy race.

And to think the B’s started the season a mediocre 6-7-4.

While the Bruins are proving to be a team with few, if any, glaring weaknesses, one of the most impressive things about this team is the way it responds to the coaching of Bruce Cassidy and his staff.

Going into their stunning blanking of the Lightning, Cassidy was not happy with the way some things were trending. His team was loose defensively in Thursday’s loss to the Florida Panthers and that needed to be tightened up. He also challenged some players in the defense corps, those who’d found themselves in the press box when the blue line was entirely healthy.

Want to play? Well, here’s your chance, said Cassidy. Show us what you’ve got.

What became of that dare was the best defensive effort of the season, a shutout of a team that was averaging an NHL-best 3.54 goals per game. By the end of the contest, the Lightning looked utterly flustered, shooting when they should pass, passing when they should shoot and being off target in both endeavors.

“We take it as a challenge,” said defenseman Torey Krug, who assisted on all three Bruins goals. “When a coach sees something slipping and brings it to our attention, it’s definitely a challenge, especially when we’re missing some of the power on the back end (Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy) and couple of great defensive forwards (Patrice Bergeron and David Backes) as well.”

The hope, certainly, is that the B’s will have Chara and McAvoy back up to speed for the playoffs, but they are much better set in the depth department than they were last year when they were decimated on the blue line with injuries. Right now, they have eight defensemen (figuring in Chara and McAvoy) the coaching staff would have no problem dressing for a playoff game.

“It’s important,” Krug said. “You see the way last year ended. Obviously the organization took it upon themselves that, if something were to happen like it did this year, we’ll be prepared. . . . It’s about layers and the next man up. If one guy makes a mistake, the other guy is there to back him up and do that job.”

Against the Lightning, the Bruins could not have performed that job much better.